Wisconsin Hunter Reunited with Missing Half of Broken Trophy Rack

Kelly Sokel of Menasha, Wisconsin was suitably surprised when he received a call last week telling him the second half of his missing rack had washed up. According to the Wisconsin Radio Network, Sokel had lost it after a hunting trip two months ago. Returning from a successful hunt in which he bagged a 165-pound eight-pointer, Sokel got into an argument with two women in a local bar. The women pulled the deer out of his truck and drove over the body repeatedly in their car, which broke off half of the rack onto the parking lot.

After the gruesome act the women sped away from the scene. Unfortunately the buck was caught under their car and they ended up dragging the animal for several blocks before stopping. The two then called an aquintance to help transport the deer to a nearby river where it was dumped.

“The prank kinda went a lot farther than I think they intended on it going,” said Department of Natural Resources warden Ryan Propson in an interview with WHBY.

Authorities caught the perpetrators soon after and fined the women $2,100 each for larceny of wild game, and the friend $260 for assisting a crime. Sokel retrieved the rack half from the parking lot and called it quits, thinking he would never see the deer again. Then last week the buck was found on the Fox River shoreline.

The meat had already decomposed but Sokel was able to salvage the other half of the rack.